Why is my MSDB database so large?
MSDB stores backup and restore history. Imagine a server with 2000 databases that takes a log backup of all of them every 15 minutes. That’s 192,000 new rows into the backupset and backupmediaset tables EVERY DAY! Keeping a few weeks or months of history can cause the size of MSDB to get very large.
Should I shrink Msdb?
Shrinking a database isnt generally recommended but there may be situations when a compact operation is required. For example, introducing a purging policy of 90 days on backup history when previously there wasn’t one would cause a lot of free space in the msdb, especially if its a high activity instance based on jobs.
What causes Msdb to grow?
Backup and restore history is the most common reason for the msdb database to bloat, however Database Engine Tuning Advisor, SQL Server Agent history, service broker, log shipping and lack of index maintenance can all contribute to excessive growth of msdb and impact the performance of the database.
How do I clean up MSDB database?
Removing the SQL backup and restore history from the msdb database from SQL Server Management Studio
- Right click a database in the Object Explorer pane and select the Delete option:
- In the Delete Object dialog check the Delete backup and restore history information for databases option:
How do I move Msdb to another drive?
Start by stopping the SQL Server Agent service and kill any other processes that might be using MSDB. Then, simply back up the MSDB database and immediately restore MSDB with the REPLACE option and use the MOVE keyword to select a new location for any files.
Can you stop a database shrink?
According to Microsoft’s documentation the dbcc shrinkfile process can be stopped at any time without impact, and resumed at a later time if necessary. I have some shrinkfile processes that will take up to days to complete (migrating data from old SAN to new SAN without downtime).
How do I stop a database from shrinking?
Open a query window, find the session id that the shrink is running from and KILL it. Shrinking causes massive fragmentation and will just result in the data file growing again next time data gets added. When that happens, the entire system will slow down as the file is expanded.
What does Msdb stand for?
MSDB
| Acronym | Definition |
|---|---|
| MSDB | Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind |
| MSDB | Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind (Great Falls, MT) |
| MSDB | Medial Septum/Diagonal Band (neurobiology) |
| MSDB | Maryland Stroke Data Bank (neurology) |
What is the MSDB system database?
The msdb database is a system database that is used by several SQL Server components such as the SQL Server Agent service. In addition to SQL Server Agent configuration and task information, replication, log shipping, and maintenance plan data are stored in the msdb database.
What is Sp_delete_backuphistory?
Reduces the size of the backup and restore history tables by deleting the entries for backup sets older than the specified date.
What is Syspolicy_purge_history?
The SYSPOLICY_PURGE_HISTORY is a built-in SQL Server Agent Job which is configured to run once a day at 2 AM. When SYSPOLICY_PURGE_HISTORY SQL Server Agent Job is executed it will remove records from the above tables, except for the retention period records.
How big is a SQL Server MSDB database?
On a few different SQL Server instances, we have observed MSDB databases over 1 GB. In each of the circumstances, the reason for the size of the MSDB database was different, so each circumstance opened up some new insight into how the MSDB database is used.
How big should a MSDB log file be?
MSDB acts a lot more like a low volume user database than the other system databases. File growth of 64MB is a good starting point. Try to right-size the log file so that it doesn’t need to grow. The right size for an instance will depend on many factors as seen in the next sections. What is the typical size of the MSDB database?
What kind of information is in MSDB database?
The MSDB database houses your maintenance plan information and job histories (amongst a few other things).
What causes the MSDB to increase in size?
In my case, when databases are frequently created and deleted, it can lead to the increase of msdb. In the situation where backup information is of no use, it can be removed by the stored sp_delete_database_backuphistory: